Daimon's Run
by Kingofclubs8129
Summary: Set Post Changes. Harry Dresden is dead. Well, UNdead. Harry is a Dark-Hunter, a chosen warrior of the goddess Artemis. Now he has to deal with Daimons, Shapeshifters, Demons and Gods. Guess it's Just another day at the office. But hey, on the bright side, none of the Daimon's have seen anything like him before.
1. Prologue: Changed

It' was so cold. I couldn't feel a thing. The water was pulling me towards the bottom and there's nothing I could do. I had heard Cassius just a moment ago, whispering his death curse over again "DIE ALONE" and a woman's voice telling him to hush. Maybe I'm hallucinating "You aren't hallucinating" well of course my hallucination would say that I can hardly trust the woman I'm hallucinating to be objective on the subject of her own reality. "I'm sorry, did you want me to let you die?" she sounds annoyed, and obviously I don't want to die.

"Well you're going to" then why ask? "Because you don't necessarily have to stay dead" this was starting to sound like a sales pitch, I was going to have to say no "Don't be insipid, you don't even know what I want" probably my soul "Well, yes" not happening lady. She can obviously hear me thinking this, (it's not like I could be holding a verbal conversation underwater) so I assume she knows how serious I am "You didn't even ask what I want it for" I don't know, lunch?

"Your soul is calling for vengeance, I can give it to you" I don't really feel vengeful at the moment I don't even know who killed me "Maybe not who pulled the trigger, but you know who led you down this path" the Black Council, I really do wish I could've given those bastards what was coming to them. "And so you can" yeah, and all for the low, low price of one Harry Dresden, slightly used. No thanks lady, I've been tempted by a freaking fallen angel, there's no way I'll sell my soul to some freaky water voice.

"My voice is not freaky" well no, it's kind of hot actually "Thank you" I'm still not selling you my soul "Not even to save your daughter?" Maggie is safe, I made sure of it. "Come now Harry, you were such a thorn in the side of the Circle, you really think they wouldn't take the chance to get a new member with what will surely be an impressive talent and one they can train from a young age?" No one knows about Maggie "Kukulkan knew." He's dead, all the Reds are "True but you know he was working with the circle, and that means Maggie is still in danger."

She's right, but I have to trust my friends. As much as I want to be there for Maggie I won't sell my soul to some dark insidious voice to be devoured especially not if I'll come back as some soulless killer who preys innocent people "Who said anything about preying on innocent people? In fact I want you to protect the innocent." Yeah right, things that take souls and raise the dead don't care about innocent people "You presume much mortal, you couldn't begin to fathom the reasons for my actions but questioning me is not wise" you're in my head so you have to know that threats won't make me watch my mouth.

"I am offering to help you attain vengeance on your enemies, the ones you call the black council. In return while we find and destroy them and after that task has been accomplished you will walk the night and destroy the creatures that prey upon humanity." I can't accept even if I want to Mab owns my mortgage now and I doubt she would let me just sign on with someone else "The Winter Queen knows better than to make an enemy of me. Once you are mine you will be beyond her reach." Who the hell did the voice think it was, Mab is a freaking Faerie Queen she isn't so easy to push around.

"Mab does not intimidate me her powers are impressive for a sidhe but hardly a match for mine. I make you the offer once more Harry Dresden,become mine and I will aid you in finding and destroying your black council I will grant you magic and life and the power to prevent those you love from being hurt by the machinations of your enemies." I don't even know who you are. And theres no proof Maggie is in any danger or that you really won't make me hurt any innocents. And how can you protect me from Mab, how can you possibly be stronger than she is? "I am stronger than she is, I give you my word you won't be expected to harm any innocents and I have looked into the future, your daughter WILL be in danger and if you do not accept my offer you won't be able to protect her and she will die."

Then it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice, a promise not to make me harm innocents is a hell of a lot better than the deal I had with Mab, I still don't know who you are though. Suddenly a bright light flares up, and instead of being in the stygian depths of Lake Michigan I'm lying on my back on table in a brightly lit room. A woman stood in front of me, Red hair cascading down over pale porcelain shoulders and over the tops of large firm breasts tightly wrapped in a white Greek toga. Emerald eyes stared at me from atop a regal nose that sat above a lush pink cupid's bow of a mouth. My eyes continued down her body to take in well-shaped legs with strong lightly muscled thighs and I got the distinct impression the view would be even better from behind.

"You always have a choice mortal." I could see that lush pink mouth forming the words and somehow it made the voice even sweeter. "I have offered for the final time already Harry Dresden, accept or decline now. I am Artemis, Goddess of the hunt. Become my creature and rid the world of a menace that plagues humanity I will grant you life and power even greater than you already have." Holy Crap, she was a GOD, how was I supposed to say no to a GOD, especially one that looked like that?

She put her delicate wrist to the generous mouth and tiny dainty fangs bit into the flesh drawing golden blood. She held the wrist out to me. "Drink of my blood mortal and become one of my chosen, my Dark-Hunters, and protect the ones you love or forever damn those you love to suffer." There was nothing else I could do, I had to protect Maggie, I had to keep my friends safe. I drank. Everything changed.


	2. Chapter 1: Sanctuary

I woke up alone in a strange room and all I could think of was how HUNGRY I was. I didn't recognize much about the room, all I could see was that I was alone lying on a cot on a smooth wood floor. There was a sturdy wood table about level with brass knob on a thick-looking wooden door, and a low light from a hanging light bulb overlooked the room.

Which was…strange, Artemis had said she would be giving me even more power than I'd had before, and with more juice than I'd had even as the winter knight, I couldn't imagine the light bulb standing up to my presence for long. Wizards and technology don't mix, and I was even harder on gizmos than your average magical bear.

I decided to try something out and muttered a quick spell "Forzare" I sent an effort of will through my burned left hand to push the table a foot or so towards the side of the room opposite me. The table rocketed across the room and into the wall with a loud bang. Oops. Apparently my new powers were going to take a bit of getting used to, I looked up at the light bulb and surely enough it hadn't even flickered.

Apparently something about becoming a Dark-Hunter had made my magic more or less than mortal because the swinging bulb was still glowing away merrily. Well that was just…neat. I had always had a profound effect on the technology surrounding me, so much so in fact that it had a derogatory effect on my day to day life in some respects. I hadn't had a hot shower since the one I got at the Raith estate while I was working that case for Thomas.

But now…apparently whatever Artemis had done to me had taken away the effect my magic had on the technology around me. Which at first blush was really cool, but also worried me a bit, mortal magic had an effect on technology and if mine didn't…what did that make me now? I hadn't really asked Artemis much about this Dark-Hunter gig, she had said I could help my daughter and I hadn't even thought twice.

The door to the room I was in burst open, interrupting my thoughts. A harried looking blond woman was standing in the door, she looked young, Id have placed her at maybe twenty five with a sweet heart-shaped face and a generous body in a very…um, well fitted T-shirt and pair of shorts that probably could've double as a belt on a slightly taller woman.

Not that she was short, I'd have put her at maybe a half foot shorter than me. I'm six and a half feet if I'm an inch so that made her fairly tall for a woman. Apparently my gaze had been taking its time travelling over her body (because I'm an investigator, and certainly not because I couldn't see a bra-line under that very tight shirt) and she coughed lightly.

I blushed and dragged my gaze up to her face "Sorry, about that if you don't mind me asking where exactly am I?" Blondie's lips quirked up in a small smile "It's fine, I'm a waitress I've been stared at plenty, at least you're enough of a gentleman to get flustered about it. To answer your question though, you're at Sanctuary, on Ursulines, I'm Aimee Peltier, my, parents own this bar".

I furrowed my brow, I didn't remember any bars called Sanctuary in the city, and if Artemis brought me here chances were good these people weren't exactly straights. "Where exactly is that? I've never heard of a street called Ursulines but there are some places up by the Gold Coast I'm not really familiar with, are we near the lake?"

She looked a bit puzzled, she had a good face for puzzled her mouth was pert and her bottom lip stuck out invitingly when she frowned, I of course being a professional files her pout away under pertinent information. "Well we're in the quarter so we're a ways away from the lake, and I'm not sure where the Gold Coast is. Is that over by Tulane? It sounds a bit ritzy."

My jaw dropped, New Orleans, I was in New Orleans. I couldn't believe this, how was I supposed to help Maggie from freaking NEW ORLEANS? "I'm sorry Aimee, my name is Harry Dresden and this is going to sound odd but did I have anything with me when I got here? I have some things to do and I really need my things so I can go."

She frowned a little harder, and that pretty lip jutted out a bit more, why were all the women I was meeting so damn attractive? "I'm sorry mister Dresden but you can't go. There was a note left with you to make sure you stayed put until Ash got here to collect you." I really didn't like the sound of that, but I could only assume the note had been from Artemis.

As much as I'd like to be my usual ornery self and leave anyway, the fact was that I was stuck in New Orleans with no money and no clothes, and suddenly I looked down and realized I was buck naked and the blanket over my lap had slipped as I sat up to look around. My face flushed and I yanked the blanket back into place, but Aimee had noticed where I was looking her eyes following mine down and widening a bit, she was blushing as well as she noticed my….ahem… enthusiastic response to her choice of clothing.

"Oh God" I blurted "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…well…god, I'm sorry". Her eyes were still a little wide and her face was really very red, I was worried she may have been having an aneurism for a minute before she spoke "That's fine, it was accident no need to make a huge thing…that is to say Im not going to blow it out of… I mean…it's no problem."

With both of our faces burning I desperately grasped for a change of topic "So I can't leave but is there any way I could get my things back?" She bit her lip and wrinkled her nose (which was adorable) and looked at me suspiciously "You aren't going to leave?" I looked at her dryly "I think it's safe to say I won't be standing up for a little while." She smiled a small wicked smile and gave my lap an exaggerated glance "I think I'm going to have to disagree."

Hells Bells this really wasn't helping my…um…predicament. I had just met this girl and while she was certainly very attractive It wasn't like me to react like this, I had wonder if something that Artemis had done to me was making me react more strongly to the women around me I was going to have to watch that in the future, if Dark-Hunters really were more strongly affected by women I could be in some trouble.

I had in the past been accused of being irrational in regards to women. I had been referred to as a chauvinist pig, though I preferred to think of myself as chivalrous personally. I happen to think women should be treated like something other than just shorter, weaker, men with breasts. This girl was incredibly pretty but now that I was aware of the difference in my tolerance for a pretty face I should be able to adjust myself accordingly. Ok, bad choice of words.

She noticed my deepening blush and chuckled "I'm only teasing, if you're not planning on leaving I have your necklace but you weren't wearing any clothes when you got here. My Papa might have something you can wear. You'll have to roll up the pants though he has almost a foot on you, and the shirt will be kind of baggy his shoulders are a bit wider than yours."

Um, gulp. Now I was glad I hadn't tried flirting with the pretty waitress, if her dad was a foot taller than me and was here often enough to have clothes here I was lucky to have survived that little flashing incident, if Papa Peltier had been walking by and misunderstood the situation the world might be short one slightly used wizard. "I promise I won't try to leave if you give me some clothes and my pentacle back."

"Alright" she seemed to hesitate for a moment, maybe she was a straight after all giving my word would have been enough for any supernatural entity. She reached into her pocket and pulled out my mother's battered pentacle amulet then she frowned cutely in concentration and a pair of pants and a shirt appeared in her other hand. Well then, definitely supernatural. She noticed my surprise and smiled reassuringly.

"I'm a were-hunter, it means I can turn into a bear and have a few other powers, I know this must all be a bit shocking but I'm not going to hurt you." Clearly Artemis's note had told them I was a new DH (I had decided that Dark-Hunter was a bit long and sounded sort of silly) but not that I had any experience with the supernatural.

I smiled at her to show I wasn't afraid and reached out with my will, with a small effort and a mutter of "Forzare" I picked up the pentacle and, being careful to use less power than I would normally, pulled the clothes and amulet across the room to me and caught them. I smiled wryly at her "I wasn't afraid." She looked mildly surprised "I don't know many dark-hunters that are telekinetic, that and since you're new that had to have been just about your first try. That's impressive."

I smiled. "It wasn't telekinesis it was magic. I'm not just a Dark-Hunter, I'm also a Wizard." She stared at me for a minute looking dubious. "A Wizard? And your name is Harry?" I chuckled "Hey no jokes Yogi, I don't think a were-bear has any right to be questioning me about being a wizard. Say I'm kind of hungry you wouldn't happen to have a pick-a-nick basket around here anywhere, would you?"

She rolled her eyes at me but I could see her lips tilting up "Wow a yogi bear joke, how original." I raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I was off balance from your brilliant and unforeseen Harry Potter joke, I'm sure I'll do better next time." That one got a full blown smile and a peal of silvery laughter "Fair enough, tell you what, we're closed so why don't you throw those on and I'll go down to the kitchen and fix you a burger and some fries to eat while you wait for Ash?"

Stars and stones, my stomach rumbled at the thought of finally getting something to eat, and a burger sounded absolutely perfect. I groaned aloud with something close to lust "God yes, I forgot how hungry I was there for a minute." She grinned saucily at that "Well I'll take that as a compliment to my feminine charms, not that you hadn't already made it clear that you were impressed." I blushed again at that. "Can you maybe turn around or something so I can get dressed?"

The saucy grin turned back into the naughty smile from earlier "Only if you insist" she blinked a few times at that "Oh my god, I'm sorry that came out way sluttier than I was meaning it to, I swear I don't usually act like this" I frowned at that. It seemed that my stronger reaction to women wasn't entirely one sided, which one the one hand was really neat, and on the other was a bit disturbing. That kind of thing was a little to close to neuromancy for my comfort.

I shook my head to clear it and waved away her concerns "It isn't a problem, Im flattered by the attention and I seem to be a bit more affected by you than I normally am by a pretty girl. No offense." She waved my concerns away just as fast "It's perfectly fine I'm not offended no harm done, just a bit of flirting, I'm actually kind of seeing someone anyway so…" she trailed off and I couldn't help but notice she looked a little sad.

Maybe it would make her feel better if I gave her a hug, I wouldn't even need to put on my clothes I could just…damn it. I shook my head again to clear it. "Maybe you should go so I can get dressed. If you want to wait outside the door I can follow you down when I'm done. She nodded and looked a bit relieved.

"That's probably a good idea, oh and word to the wise, this little byplay while amusing and harmless should not be repeated outside this room. My family runs this place and I have twelve very protective, very large brothers and a very large scary father." Again I say, gulp. "I totally understand I'll try not to stare or anything." She smiled at that "I appreciate and I'll try not to say anything provocative." I smiled back at her feeling a bit relieved, the last thing I needed was a pack of angry overprotective were-bears gunning for me..

Aimee left the room and I quickly dressed and put on mothers pentacle. As we walked down the stairs to her family's restaurant I wondered again about her reaction to me and mine to here. I had assumed that it was simply a by-product of being a DH and would apply to me all the time, and that might be the case, but there was also a chance the reaction was to Aimee specifically or to only certain females in a group Aimee happened to be a part of.

Another in a long line of questions to ask Artemis's guy when he arrived, I didn't know who this Ash was but I hoped he had some answers for me, because I sure as hell had plenty of questions. After we got to the kitchen Aimee sat me down at a marble island with a rack of pots and pans hanging above it and we chatted aimlessly for about fifteen minutes as she cooked.

When she finished with my food she set my plate down on the island and perched on the stool across from me to pick at the mountain of steaming hot fries on my plate. "So, this Ash guy , How will he be able to help me?" She looked at me for a moment while she chewed, as if deciding what to say about him. "Ash is…unique. I haven't been around you long but some of the things I've observed make me think you might be…unique too. At least as far as Dark-Hunters go." She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. It was still adorable.

"I think he'll be able to help you a lot with adjusting, no scratch that I know he can help you a lot, but I think maybe you might have more than most to adjust to." I was about to ask her what she meant by that when I heard music begin to play from outside the kitchen. Aimee looked up quickly at the door out of the room as Sweet Home Alabama began to play through the kitchen, slightly muffled by the walls.

"Ash is here." I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Hells Bells, he has his own theme song?" She giggled a bit "He didn't pick ask for it, we play it to warn people when he comes in. Sometimes they want to leave in a hurry." I nodded in understanding, people tended to clear out of Macs when I showed up these days, I could understand how someone else could have similar problems, not that it made me anxious to meet the man.

I took a bite of my burger to try and settle my nerves. And almost fell off of my stool in seizures of pure bliss. I moaned out loud around the bite of ambrosia. Because that's what this was. This was a burger of the gods. This was king of burgers and all lesser burgers bowed before it. My widened eyes flicked to Aimee who was smiling smugly. "Marry me, we can runaway today and elope. You can make us dinner on our honeymoon."

She let out another peal of silvery laughter and I took another bite of the god burger…and noticed something new…I had fangs. FANGS I was about to freak out about my new dental plan when I realized Aimee's laughter wasn't the only laughter in the room. A deeper more masculine chuckle was rumbling from behind me. I spun around quickly and was a bit surprised to see a tall man behind me, grinning.

"I think maybe her boyfriend would have something to say about that." His voice had an odd melodic accent to it that I didn't recognize, and the rest of him wasn't really any more typical than the voice. He stood about two inches taller than me though more heavily muscled and was about as good looking as my brother.

My brother Thomas looks like the ancient greek god of body cologne and this guy had to be every bit as attractive, but where Thomas was clean-cut and a bit frilly this guy was decked out in Goth wear and seemed a bit harsh. There was an air of controlled malice around him, though not so you'de notice if you didn't know to look. The air of danger was masked with a casual easygoing manner and I knew I didn't have to worry about this guy snapping and hurting me. If he hurt me, it wouldn't be an accident.

He seemed to finish sizing me up about the same time and I was saved from a soulgaze by the thick dark sunglasses he wore. He held his hand out to me to shake. I took it and introduced myself "Harry Dresden, you must be Ash." "Acheron Parthenopaus im your boss, welcome to Dark-Hunter 101"

Alright heres the second chapter. This ones longer as promised. I don't know what the pairing is yet. Probably not Aimee because of Fang. I might have him with Katra and take Sin out, or he might end up with more than one person, if that bothers anyone im just giving fair warning now that it's a possibility. Let me know what you think and if you have any pairing ideas im open to suggestion. Warning ahead of time there WILL be sexual content later on down the road.


	3. Chapter 2: Souls

After Ash's introduction he gave me a few minutes to say goodbye to Aimee and thank her for everything she'd done for me. She gave me her phone number and told me to give her a call or drop by when I had the chance, and made sure to make it very clear she meant it totally platonically. She also gave me a hug, which I also assumed was platonic, or at least my brain did.

My body (which usually doesn't get a vote) decided that having my arms full of sweet-smelling, voluptuous, blonde was most definitely not platonic and showed this in a fashion that would have been much less embarrassing had I not been wearing badly fitted sweatpants. I tried to end the hug as quickly as possible, apologizing to Aimee profusely as I did.

She assured me that she knew I was going through a lot at the moment and didn't hold anything against me. The smug little smirk she was wearing let me know that the phrasing was intentional and even if she wasn't necessarily interested in me that way, she appreciated the compliment and was comfortable enough with me to enjoy my mortification.

Despite the slightly provocative byplay between us I thought that I might actually have made a friend out of this mess. The idea didn't necessarily upset me, I was totally out of element out here and I made a note to stop by and say hi to Aimee again if I got a chance.

I also made a note to relegate her firmly into the headspace I used for friends, doing my best to ignore the fact that the tips of her breasts strained her T-shirt a small ways below aforementioned smug smile It was a bit gratifying to know that at least my reaction to her wasn't totally one-sided. While she had felt fantastic when she was pressed against me, her sad smile earlier had given me the impression she was pretty serious about the guy she had mentioned.

And hells bells, the last thing I needed was thirteen angry wear-bears and whatever Aimees star-crossed sweetie was, wanting a bite of the Harry happy meal. The sooner I got control of my out of control hormones and stopped thinking of this obviously taken girl as a sexual prospect the sooner id stop wondering what her breasts would look like if they didn't have anything to strain against….NO, bad thoughts Harry, very bad thoughts.

Well, at least I already had an excuse ready for the tightening in my pants. Making a distinct mental effort to relegate Aimee to the headspace I saved for Molly, I was able to shake of whatever was affecting me (I hoped Ash could shed some light on it) and smile at the pretty waitress again "Thank you, Aimee, really. You've helped me so much more than you can know, I know I've been around you for only a few hours but I'll definitely make sure to visit, I dot really have any other friends around here."

That succeeded in getting the blush my straining pants hadn't "Don't mention it Harry, I'm glad I was able to help you and I look forward to talking to you more." We exchanged another quick hug and apparently having her in the same mental place as Molly enabled me to enjoy this one for the gesture of comfort and support that it was. I smiled at Aimee again as Ash reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder.

And just like that, I was standing in a large marble hall. Hells bells what was this guy? I'd seen things that could open a way into the nevernever so smoothly you wouldn't even notice it, but I'd yet to meet anyone who could open one, bring me through it and close it again without my notice. I stumbled away from him and tripped over the sweats, falling onto the hard marble floor.

The marble of the floor was a deep black in contrast to the white marble of the walls and in the center of it I could see a strange gold symbol, a sun pierced by three lightning bolts, emblazoned in gold on the dark stone. I paused for a second. That symbol seemed oddly…familiar. I felt like I had seen it somewhere before, but I shook of the deja-vu and looked quickly back to Ash. He still towered over me with that imposing aura but his clothes had changed in the second I had looked around.

His goth clothes had been traded out for a black silk robe and a pair of black silk pants, the robe looked oddly formal and had gold thread embroidering it. He wasn't wearing a shirt and I had to say my earlier comparison to Thomas had been pretty accurate, the man had what I would have to describe as an eight pack, the bastard. People like him and my brother made all of the rest of us working-man types feel all inferior.

Across his chest I could see what appeared to be a tattoo of a stylized red dragon and I could swear that the damn thing was shifting subtly. But I lost focus as my eyes trailed up to meet his swirling silver irises…and everything froze. I had been so distracted by this entire surreal experience I hadn't even noticed the pull on my awareness that signaled the beginnings of a soulgaze.

I was standing in the same hall he had taken me to in real life, and Acheron was still standing in front of me in the same clothes. Behind him stretched a multitude of shadows, too many to even begin to count, and somehow I knew each one represented Ash in one of his roles. One shadow stood firm and tall I got the impression of a leader or a general fearlessly doing whatever necessary to prepare his people for the coming darkness.

Another shadow seemed somehow kinder and softer I got the feeling this one was a father, doting on his children and at the same time there seemed to be a steely-resolve behind it, I knew this man would do terrible things to protect the people he loved. He might regret the necessity but he wouldn't hesitate to do anything he needed to protect his children.

A third shadow was somehow larger and more terrible than Acheron could ever hope to be, I could see the outline of horns on this one and feel a malevolent disdain for everything around it and a sense of savage glee barely restrained. If that horned shadow ever broke free, the world would burn, and that terrible beast would dance in the ashes of a ruined planet.

But one shadow was not plain to see. It gave the impression of hiding behind Acherons massive bulk and was the shadow not of a man, but of a child. The shadow of a small boy, maybe ten years old and from the set of his shoulders I could see heartbreak and despair. I could feel through the magic of the soulgaze the same sense of fear and loneliness I had experienced as a child but a hundred times worse. I knew this man would not trust easily, knew it because he had felt the same heartbreak and betrayal I had known, and more besides.

Before I could learn more about that particular shadow the soulgaze ended leaving me looking into a pair of swirling silver eyes again. Eyes filled with sorrow and shock and…awe. Eyes filled with a sense of kinship and respect. I had seen Acherons true measure with the magic of the soulgaze and he had seen mine. Whatever he had seen had made him respect me a bit more, and he definitely wasn't alone there.

"You're a Wizard." It wasn't a question, but I answered anyway. "Sure am, but what the hell are you?" Ash gave me a crooked smile "I'm a lot of things" I snorted at the understatement "No shit" He raised one eyebrow in an amused fashion "You had questions you wanted to ask?" I forced myself back on track he was for damn sure right about the questions

"More than a few, but I have a few main ones. What kind of powers do I have now as a Dark-Hunter, why does my magic not affect technology now? Why do I have such a strong reaction to women, and why do they seem to have a strong reaction in return?" I fired off the questions rapid-fire and Ash let out a rolling basso laugh.

"Slow down Wizard, we'll get to everything we have all the time in the world. In order, As a Dark-Hunter you have more strength and speed than a normal human, you don't age and you may have noticed your increased magical power. Your magic doesn't foul up technology any longer because you aren't mortal anymore, only mortal magic affects technology adversely. As for the women…sometimes Dark-Hunters develop strange powers during the transition some get telekinesis, some conjuring."

He gave me an appraising look "It seems like you may be developing some powers attributed to certain deities of fertility, that isn't something I've heard of before, but sometimes mortal magic mixing with the devine can have unusual results. In our whole history Artemis has never made a wizard into a Dark-Hunter, so theres bound to be some side effects we won't see coming."

I looked up in surprise at that. "No other wizard has become a Dark-Hunter? Why is that?" Ash shrugged "Artemis targets those who wish to achieve vengeance but can't get it and she never takes suicides. Most wizards who die wanting vengeance lay out their death curse on whoever they want to hurt effectively killing themselves."

I had known wizards were way full of themselves, but the thought that no wizard had dies wanting vengeance because it hadn't occurred to them that their death curse wouldn't work was sort of funny. I grinned ruefully at Ash "That actually makes a lot of sense." Ash grinned back and I could tell he had an idea where my head was at.

"Alright, so I'll be handling your training. A couple of rules to start with Dark-Hunters cant gather in groups of three or more without it draining their powers. The only exception is when Im there with them. No hurting innocents obviously. And Ill be teaching you how to fight. Since you're a wizard and I know you use a staff it should work out well. The staff is my weapon of choice."

I grinned at that I had been trying to pick up more tricks with my go-to focus and that included regular old stick-smacking action. I had been doing some drills with Murphy but this guy was an immortal who used a staff out of preference. I didn't know how old he was but I had got the feeling from our soulgaze that he was ancient. I bet id pick up tons from him.

"Artemis mentioned id be ridding the night of some kind of menace. Did she just mean menaces in general or there a special brand of menace that Dark-Hunters are sponsored by." Ashs face sobered "They're called Daimons. Children of the line of Apollo cursed to never feel the light of the sun and to die painfully on their twenty-seventh birthday. They were shown how to consume human souls to extend their shortened lifespans indefinitely."

Holy shit, I got the feeling Daimons weren't a new thing and I didn't want to meet anything that could lay down a curse that lasted that long or targeted that many people. I doubt the Merlin of the white council could power a curse like that with his own death, and he widely considered the most powerful wizard on the PLANET. But ignoring the big honking curse I couldn't help but again feel like this story seemed familiar.

Something about hearing about Apollos children was making me feel a bit strange, like there was something id forgotten. I shook off the odd feeling and turned my attention back to ash. "So where exactly are we? I can feel that its somewhere in the nevernever. And when do we start this training?" Ash smirked at that "You could say that, we're in my home Katoteros, the atlantean heaven realm." His eyes widened in surprise, as if he hadn't been planning to tell me that, but his featires quickly morphed into a grin "As for when we start training" He pulled a wooden quarterstaff out of the air with each hand and threw one to me. "That would be now."

**Alright that's it for chapter three. Im not sure what Harrys power is yet as far as the lust thing goes im still deciding. Harrys soulgaze with Ash is out of the way now and due to their mutual childhood trauma and inner strength they have a certain amount of respect for each other now. Harry does have a connection to the DH world but it isn't obvious and I doubt anyone will guess it though you can feel free to try. Reviews are appreciated thanks to Jason123456 for being my first reviewer I appreciate the feedback. If anyone has any pairing requests feel free to put that in a review as well, though I have to say ahead of time I only do straight pairings sorry to anyone hoping for anything else.**


	4. Chapter 3: Blood

I really don't understand why people like to hit me. I mean, sure, I can be the wisest of asses, and my sarcasm is usually pretty juvenile, but I'm really not that bad of a guy. So why is it that people seem to take a special kind of pleasure in tormenting me? Maybe if I had a chance to follow that line of thinking to its conclusion I could have figured it out, but I had to interrupt the thought to dodge out of the way of an iron-shod quarterstaff headed for my face.

I rolled quickly to my side and barely avoided getting my head caved in by a powerful downward swing from Ash's staff. The cap of the staff continued past my head and…Hells Bells… spread a web of cracks through the marble as big around as a dinner plate. "Stars and Stones Ash, that last one almost…." I was forced to abandon that particular line of complaint to move away from another literally earth shattering blow of his staff. I sent a swing towards his ankle where he had his weight settled and cursed as he drew the leg (which was not in fact where he was putting all of his weight) up and stomped down on my own rune-carved staff, pinning it to the ground.

I felt the iron tip of Ash's quarterstaff press against my neck. "You cheated." Ash raised an eyebrow "How do you figure?" I scowled up at him from my place on the ground "You said no powers, human beings can't lift up the leg that all of their weight is on without falling over, you were levitating or something." So fine, complaining about it was petty, and it made me sound like a sore loser, but damn it the man said no powers and I certainly hadn't used mine.

Ash rolled his eyes and moved the staff away from my neck, offering me his hand to help me to my feet. "It's a Karate technique called Gamaku, it's a move that involves shifting your body away from your center of gravity to fool your opponent into thinking you're balanced on the opposite leg." I blinked at him owlishly. He rolled his at me again and sighed "I think you might have a concussion from banging your head on the floor, we're done for the day."

I groaned audibly in relief, Ash was a good guy and he had helped me a lot in the last few weeks, getting me adjusted to my new strength and speed, not to mention my new dental plan. The fact remained however that he was also a dictatorial teacher and a strict and brutal taskmaster, the end of my daily training was something I always looked forward to with great relish. A girlish giggle sounded from the other side of the room and I looked over to see a gorgeous goth girl, who looked at least twenty years too young for me, with her feet propped up on the spine of Ash's throne as she hung her head upside down off the seat.

Black (for the moment at least) pigtails hung down around a sweet heart-shaped face. Her skin was pale (also for the moment, her demon form weirded me out a bit so Ash told her to keep up her human glamour) and she had sharp teeth exposed in a wide grin. "Akri, the Simi is so glad you let her watch this. Next to QVC and playing with baby Marissa, watching you beat up Akri-Harry is the most fun the Simi gets to have." Over the weeks I had gotten Ash to explain (with much pestering on my part) that Akri was Atlantean (his native tongue, how weird is that) for lord and master.

Which did not of course do anything to alleviate either of our confusion as to why Ash's demon felt the need to call me that, and asking her didn't work either, as Ash's demon was ridiculously spoiled and had quite the attitude most of the time. When questioned about why she felt the need to refer to me in such a fashion Simi's response was simply "Well what else would I call him?" Which was almost as vague as it was unhelpful, but neither of us could get the demon to say another word on the subject.

Seeing as she was basically Ash's daughter I found it best to just give her her own way, and was ecstatic to learn that whatever mojo affected the women around me did not work on Simi and that she was not in the least bit interested in me sexually. This apparent exception did not however include Ash's servant's live-in sweetie, Danger. Alexion had spent the first week or so glaring daggers at me while his girlfriend flirted with me at breakfast.

I think he probably would have killed me when Ash wasn't around if we hadn't explained what was going on to him and Danger after a particularly uncomfortable incident where I ended up with a face full of one of Danger's thongs, while she was still wearing it (I know it sounds bad but I swear it was really a big misunderstanding on a three-stoogian scale). Needless to say Ash had to literally restrain Alexion with his powers while we explained the misunderstanding and the reason for Danger's *ahem* provocative behavior. On a positive note, apparently having a lapful of my face was more mortifying for Danger than whatever power I had was effective because she had been very careful around me ever since.

Despite the fact that Alexion still REALLY didn't like me Ash and Danger had managed to talk him down, and had promised that they would ask Savitar (who was apparently kind of a big deal) to come see if there was a way to curb the effect. It wasn't really that it made me irresistible or anything (the underwear incident was one big pratfall and Danger really loves Alexion and would have never actually done anything) but the flirting was starting to really get to pretty much everyone and Danger was very…um…forward about the way she spoke, so it couldn't possible go anywhere good.

Ash had sent Alexion and Danger back to the real world for a week or two on his dime and today was the day I was supposed to see Savitar. Simi rolled backwards and flipped off the chair to land on her feet. "Akri, are we leaving for Savi's island soon." Ash smiled at his demon as I pulled my head out of the clouds of thought I was getting lost in. "Yes, we're leaving now."

For most people this would probably be a figure of speech but Ash reached out to put his hand on my shoulder and suddenly we were just…elsewhere. We were standing on a beach on beautiful, lush, tropical, island. A ways down the beach was what appeared to be the lone figure of a man waxing a surfboard. He cleaned and waxed the wood with the steady practiced movements of ritual.

He looked as if he gained a measure of peace from the motions, losing himself in the steady repetitive work and the sound of the waves. To be honest I felt a bit bad to be disturbing the large man, who had to be just as tall as Acheron and even more heavily muscled and I knew from one glance at his lavender eyes that this must be Savitar. And I knew just as strongly that whatever I did, I did not want to soulgaze this being. If I even could.

I carefully averted my eyes so I was looking him in the face without looking him in the eye (a trick most wizards pick up at some point) and we began to walk down the beach toward the figure who was wearing of all things, a surfers wetsuit. As we approached the man began to look agitated working more furiously on the board as if to compensate for our interruption. Apparently it didn't work because he threw the board down and looked up at me…and I froze. I knew this man. I couldn't begin to say from where but I was absolutely positive that I remembered him, and he certainly remembered me. He jumped to his feet and began to look even more agitated, his eyes widening in what I thought had to be…panic?

"Oh shit, what are you doing here? Acheron why the fuck would you bring HIM here? And why are your eyes black, and the fangs? Jesus…you're a Dark-Hunter…how did you...you DIED?!" Savitar (or the man I assumed was Savitar) was beginning to turn purple and was looking positively apoplectic. Ash, for his part looked confused. "Sav, man what's wrong? Do you know Harry somehow?" Savitar let out a burst of bitter mocking laughter "Know him? You could say that. I'm his godfather."

My breath whooshed out of me in a wave like someone had punched me in the solar plexus "Wait. What? You knew my mother?" I had heard lots of things about my mother over the years but only vague facts here and there. I had come to trust Ash over the past few weeks and if Ash thought Savitar was alright this could finally be my chance to learn more about my mother. This could finally be my chance to understand my parents better.

I had been an orphaned as a child and after my father died when I was six I had wondered constantly about what my parents had been like when they were younger. I had fantasized about having a family as a teenager and wondered what they would be like, but it had been especially bad about my mother. I had never met my mother, she died in childbirth and everything I had heard about her from my sources made her sound like some kind of criminal.

I couldn't help but think that there had to be more to my mother than just the revolutionary I had heard about. My mother had been a person. With hopes and dreams, faults and strengths, with all the things that made people real, made them people. And I suddenly wanted nothing more than to know. To know all about her and what this man knew of her life. To hear stories of my mother making dinner, or spending time with friends, or anything at all to prove to me that she had been a real person.

Savitar looked like he still might have an aneurism so I suppose he wasn't thinking when he muttered, just loud enough for me to hear "No I never met Maggie personally, but I'm good friends with your father." I just about collapsed in shock. For one thing my father had somehow known this powerful immortal. And for another he had referred to my father in the PRESENT TENSE. I was saying the words aloud even as the thought was coalescing in my mind. "My father is still alive?"

**Ok that's it for this chapter. A bit short I know but I wanted to end it on this note because I wanted to make sure that you guys knew there will be minor spoilers for the chronicles of nick. Nothing really plot based at this point but some facts that get revealed that are pretty surprising in context. Some people will probably be annoyed but Harry's dad is not going to be human. I wont say who he is so far but I will give you a small hint. It has to do with Harry's combat magic and his new lust powers, and his dad is REALLY powerful. As for why he left you'll have to read more to find out. Also I wanted to ask anyone who wants to to send reviews voting for pairings. My picks at the moment are Katra, Medea(Strykers daughter) and Appolymi. Or possible more than one of them let me know what you think.**


	5. Chapter 4: Fire

All I could do after he said that was gape in shock. Savitar seemed to catch his slip almost immediately because he paled and glanced over at my face. "Shit" the emphasis on the word pretty much made all other comments unnecessary. Ash looked at Savitar with nearly as much shock as I was feeling, I got the impression that his shock was more over Savitar being my godfather than anything else.

"What do you mean you're friends with his father?" The way Ash said that made me think he was aware of the reason that should have been impossible, though it had never come up in conversation. "I thought Harry's father was dead." I honestly wasn't sure wether he had heard about my father from Artemis or had seen it in the soulgaze somehow, hell I didn't know anything about what Ash really was or how it reacted with my magic.

Savitar just blew out a breath and averted his eyes. "Im not supposed to say anything, Grom, his father is much older and stronger than I am. If we weren't friends I think I'd be terrified of the old bastard." Ash looked dubious "Sav, you're from Lemuria, I don't think I know of many things older and stronger than you." Savitar let out a humorless chuckle "lets just say his father is contemporary of your mother and leave it at that." Ash actually paled at that, I haven't known the man for long but Ive sort of got the feeling not much scares him, so that reaction seemed like it really couldn't be a good thing.

I looked back and forth between the two of them allowing my confusion to finally snap me out of my reverie. "Wait, who is Ash's mother? And why is it such a big deal that my father is a contemporary of hers? And how is my father still alive? He died when I was six." Savitar and Ash glanced at each other. "That's kind of sensitive information, but as for why it's a big deal it's because the Groms mother only had six or seven contemporaries. Like at all ."I glared at both of them "Im not in the mood for your need to know bullshit, I just found out my father is alive and I want to know whats going on now tell me, I swear on my power I wont tell anyone else."

Ash looked a little unsure but Savitar nodded to him and he reluctantly answered my question. "In the beginning of the universe there were six primal gods, three dark and three light. The dark primal were Noir, god of darkness, Azora, of the water, and Braith, goddess of destruction, and strongest of the three. The light primal were Verlyn, god of justice, Cam, goddess of light, and Rezar, the primal god of fire, who was as strong as Braith and therefore strongest of the light."

I assumed since he was telling me this it pertained to our situation so I followed the obvious train of thought "So obviously your mother is one of these primal gods, and since Savitar said my father was a contemporary of hers he's one too." Ash nodded "my mother is Braith, a secret that almost no-one knows and that could end the world if it becomes common knowledge, so try and keep it on the DL. In mixed company my mother goes by Appolymi, after the primus bellum, a war between the primal gods, eons ago she was taken in by the atlantean pantheon and became their goddess of destruction."

I nodded my understanding to him. "I'll remember to call her that and no-one will hear her secrets from me. But that means that my father is one of the other primal gods. And honestly from what I remember of my dad I cant think who it could possibly be." Savitar rolled his eyes at me (which I felt was insensitive given the magnitude of the situation.

"Harry, think about it. Think about, your drive to protect those around you, your unusual strength with fire magic, and your friendship with the knights of the cross, who are servants of the light. You're a detective, put the pieces together." I nodded my thought having caught up to his point a few seconds before he finished speaking. "Rezar, my father is the primal god of fire." Which in retrospect kind of made sense, that firestorm I had called into being at Biancas masquerade was stronger than even Ebenezar could manage. And fire magic had always come much easier to me than it should have, even taking into account who my grandfather was.

Savitar nodded as I filled in a thousand little pieces. But I still had one burning question (no pun intended) "If my father was one of the first gods in the universe my magic should be way more powerful than it is. I should at the very least be the strongest wizard on the planet. Im only top twenty at best, why am I not stronger." Savitar shook his head "Not how it works kid, your father bound your powers. Trust me you should be glad he did, the stuff that come at you has been small potatoes compared to what would have been after you had you grown up burning with the essence of a combination of one of the strongest mortals on the planet and a primal god."

He gave me a meaningful glance as he said that. Causing me to remember several of the things that had come after me and shudder at the recollection, then he continued. "In point of fact your powers are still bound, though some of them have been leaking through since Artemis's godhood mingled with your powers. You may have noticed your magic is slightly stronger, and that's nothing compared to what your fire magic will be like now. You also may have noticed women being more drawn to you and vice versa, Rezars hot nature causes lust in any woman who beholds him. You should be glad Artemis only released a small portion of your powers, it'll give you a chance to learn control of that aspect of your powers before you get the full measure."

My head whirled with all the new information. "So wait" I said "You were saying that I only got a bit of my powers, how much is a bit, and if I only have a little why is the lust thing so strong?" Savitar snorted in amusement "Strong? Kid from what I can read from the ether you've had a couple of flirtations and an embarrassing incident or two. At full strength youde still be in bed recovering, and that little blonde waitress would be in the with you doing her best to inhibit your recovery. And that incident with that shade wouldve gone a lot differently, mostly because she would grabbed a big handful of hair and held your head where it was, and that thong would've come right off as she was doing it. You have no concept of what Rezars powers can do."

He didn't even give me a chance to respond as he continued. "Not to mention the fact that because of your wizard blood you'll be even more powerful than either of your parents. So when I say a little of your full powers, Im talking about something similar to a drop in the ocean. You want to take care of your daughter Harry? You want the black council destroyed? You want to help and protect your friends and brother? Then take up your powers Harry, let me help unlock your full strength and that entire to-do list wont even take the weekend."

He shook his head sadly. "I never wanted this life for you, I always thought you should've been trained, but your father forbid me to contact you about this, saying he wanted you to have a normal life, that's the reason he left you as a child. His enemies were closing in on both of you and he didn't want to risk your safety. But now youre here, you came to me and you know the truth, and Im going to do my job as your godfather and teach you what you need to know. I watched that bitch Lea d her best to turn you into a psychotic nutcase and I couldn't be prouder of how well you resisted her. I cant think of anyone else more worthy of your powers than you are." I looked towards the giant immortal in front of me in awe, he seemed to have such a high opinion of me and he spoke with a passion that let me know he really cared about me.

I said nothing for a minute or two, letting the silence stretch before I nodded "All right, theyre my powers in the first place and knowing my luck if I don't unlock and learn to use them the damn things will find a way to get loose on their own. Go ahead and unlock them." He shook his head sadly "I cant do that, I wish I could, but I lack the power to remove Rezars block, we need him to do it, or another primal of the same strength." My eyes widened in understanding and I turned to look at Acheron. Savitar did the same "So what do you say Grom? Feel like asking your mommy for a favor?

**Well that's it for this chapter. Next one Harry meets Appolymi and probably Medea. Im still deciding pairings and taking any requests into consideration. Hope Harrys dad came as a surprise to everyone in a good way. I think that it really fits with Harrys personality and combat style and I really couldn't pass up the chance to give him superpowers like everyone else. I know this one was short but I wanted to focus totally on the big reveal and making it short makes sure its more about that. Id love to see some reviews guys so let me know what you think.**


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